Biography of Jesus:
In recasting his life from the meagre data at hand his biographers ascribed to him all of the miracles told of Elijah and Elisha—feeding the multitude with a few loaves, curing the sick, reviving the dead and being transported to heaven.
Teachings of Jesus:
He taught nothing heretical or startlingly new; he preferred to emphasize the old. The phrases of "the Lord's Prayer" are biblical; the Beatitudes (a group of Blessings in the New Testament) are rabbinic; his communistic views, those of the Essene school.
The chief source of his teachings was the Didache, i.e., a summary of the Faith used by the Synagogue for proselytes. It contained the Shema followed by "Thou shalt love the Lord God, etc.;" love thy neighbor as thyself—Hillel's Golden Rule; the Ten Commandments; a disquisition on "the two ways"—right and wrong.
He followed the rabbis in teaching largely by Mashal—parable. Even the form "Ye have heard, etc., but I will go further yet, etc.," is rabbinic.
The Crucifixion:
The reasons why the death of Jesus should not be attributed to the Jews, may be summarized as follows. (See Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. iv.)
Crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman method of capital punishment. Prior to the open rebellion against Rome, 30-66 C. E., many Jews were crucified as rebels, and on very meagre evidence. A Messiah in its eyes was a rebel; the inscription placed on the cross was "King of the Jews."
"The mode and manner of Jesus' death undoubtedly point to Roman custom and law as the directive power," though Jews may have administered a soothing cup to lessen the suffering.